Business owes tax, please return license
The petroleum business is a special field, so for a long time, few people outside the industry had detailed information. Recently, when the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted many businesses for business violations and a series of petroleum businesses requested to return their operating licenses, the market's shortcomings were gradually revealed.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that nearly 20 traders have requested to return the Certificate and the Ministry has revoked the Certificate at the request of the enterprise according to regulations.
Not only that, some petroleum businesses have also been "named and shamed" by the tax authorities for having huge tax debts. For example, Hai Linh Company Limited - a "big guy" in the petroleum industry with a very large market share in the North, owes up to 288 billion VND in taxes (as of September 30, 2024).
The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that the entry and exit of businesses from the market in general still occurs regularly, and the petroleum business, a conditional business item, is no exception.
However, businesses have pointed out the shortcomings of the petroleum market in recent times, including the shortcomings of the petroleum business decree.
Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Giang Chan Tay - Director of Boi Ngoc Petroleum Company Limited said that according to current regulations, key enterprises are the only units allowed to create sources of goods from importing and purchasing goods from 2 domestic petrochemical refineries and then retailing.
According to the draft Decree on petroleum business that is seeking opinions, the main enterprises are also given the right to determine retail prices. "Such delegation of authority is not in accordance with the Competition Law, because the retail stores of the main enterprises are always given priority in terms of goods sources and profits, while other retail stores have to swim on their own," said Mr. Tay.
Meanwhile, the discount "granted" by the main enterprise to the retail enterprise is the amount that the retailer can enjoy, the discount is 0 VND, the retail enterprise must still sell and sell continuously. The retail price is regulated but the discount is floating, which is a problem of the market.
"Given the above reality, retail businesses and distributors recommend that it is necessary to regulate minimum standard costs at the retail stage. This cost must be distributed to retail businesses by specific regulations, not allowing the main business to decide on the discount level.
If there is no regulation on standard costs for retail sales, the Decree needs to stipulate that retail businesses have the right to stop selling when they see low discounts and ineffective sales," said Mr. Giang Chan Tay.
Along with that, the draft Decree needs to stipulate that retail enterprises and distributors have the right to purchase gasoline from many different sources to regulate supply and demand according to the laws of the market economy.
Qualified for petroleum market
Speaking with Lao Dong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that when drafting the Decree, the Ministry of Industry and Trade organized many conferences and discussions to collect comments in a spirit of openness.
"Creating a competitive market in the petroleum business sector under current domestic conditions is completely feasible. The viewpoint when building the Decree on petroleum business is to approach the market," said Mr. Tan.
National Assembly Delegate Hoang Van Cuong - Member of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee said that we are now at a stage where we have all the conditions to integrate into the market.
That is, the current supply of gasoline does not only depend on international demand, domestic enterprises themselves can also meet a fairly large supply (nearly 70% of domestic demand - PV).
"I think that if we still want to establish a separate market by defining a separate space for goods that are already connected, it will not be successful. Therefore, I suggest that we should change it so that goods are truly connected with the world," said Mr. Cuong.
Mr. Cuong said that if following a market economy, businesses must be free to buy and sell. Therefore, the provision that "this person can only buy goods from that person" in the draft decree is not appropriate.
